Greener, Cleaner, Non-Toxic Laundry with Soap Nuts [Review]

As I have mentioned in previous posts, one of the hardest transitions to green living has been replacing cleaning products with ones that are non-toxic and actually work. I usually go through several, if not more, brands of eco-friendly and green products before I find one that even compares to the toxic brands. I have been eyeing soap nuts for quite some time. I have read many reviews on their effectiveness and have always wanted to try them. If you are looking to remove toxic chemicals from your house, Cleaner Planet Soap Nuts will leave you with greener and cleaner laundry!

Cleaner Planet Soap Nuts    (80-100 load bag, $10.00)

Rating: total green check marks out of 5.

The Good	The Not So Good
Cleans and soften clothes (no dryer sheets needed)	Bag with soap nuts can get "lost" among the clothes
Natural, non-toxic, green
No additives, no perfumes, no fillers
Compostable

What is a soap nut?
A soap nut is the shell of a berry that is dried in the sun and resembles a nut. Soap nuts have some of the highest concentration of saponin, which breaks the water surface tension and lifts the dirt of the fabric. Soap nuts also soften your fabric, so there is no need for dryer sheets.

Instructions:
Place 4-6 whole shells (8-10 halves) in the muslin drawstring bag, close the bag securely, and toss the bag in the drum of the washing machine as the water is filling, before your clothes, just as you would add any other laundry detergent. The same 4-6 shells can be used up to 8 times in cold water washes and up to 4 times in hot water washes. For cold water washes, it is recommended to soak the shells in water for 5-10 minutes.

My Experience:
Now that you know a little bit about soap nuts and how to use them, let me tell you about my experience. My husband does the laundry 95% of the time. He was a little skeptical that these little "nuts" would clean our dirty clothes, sheets, towels, etc. I promised him that they would work. I brought the muslin bag and he tossed it into the washes reluctantly. I will be honest that we did not quite know how to tell if the clothes were clean or not (not that we know with other detergents either), but we have been wearing the clothes for one week and I have not heard of any complaints of being stinky. We realized that when transferring clothes from the washes to the dryer, you have to hunt for the soap nuts bag to make sure you take it out. After using the soap nuts, I hug the bag up to dry. The biggest surprise came when my husband took the clothes out of the dryer.  He said that they felt very soft. Unbelievably soft! I do not think that our towels have ever been so soft!

When comparing using Soap Nuts with using powder/liquid laundry detergent, they are just as easy to use. Yes, you have to hunt for the bag when you transfer the laundry to the dryer, but the fact that the soap nuts leave your clothes softer makes them a winner in my book. I would highly recommend Cleaner Planet Soap Nuts to anyone. My laundry feels clean, smells clean, and is softer. And when I'm all done, I can throw the used soap nuts in the compost. Zero waste!

Disclosure: I received the sample from the company in order to facilitate my review. No other compensation was received. I am under no pressure to return the product to the company or to write this review. This product review is based on my personal experiences. This review is objective and completely honest.